Graham Potter sacking cheered by Chelsea fans; the coach should be dispensable
Chelsea is not a club of stability; it should be a club of chaos and the coach appointments should reflect that.
Plus, we have views on Manchester United and a brilliant weekend of football. Mail your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com
Chelsea culture is chaos and that gets results
So happy that Graham Potter got sacked. The poor bloke shouldn’t even have been hired! He was destined to be a Tottenham coach after Brighton (which may now happen anyways).
From the outset of purchasing Chelsea from Roman, current owners have been keen to stress on a collaborative approach, no walls between functional units, review of the club every few days/weeks/months, use of world-class infrastructure – data being the primary driver etc.
Look, I’m all in for this, but the owners have to understand that they’re not purchased a relegation-battling team, or a Chelsea team in 2003 that was a top 4/cup team. This is a team that has won everything, and a couple of years ago, won one of the most dominant Champion Leagues (just look at all our knockout games, and the xGD). This is already a blue-chip stock if I use equity jargon! You have a winner.
While I really like the ideas of new owners, you can’t just simply take rule-by-rule from Baseball or other business and apply it here hoping it would work. Borrow the good principles from other successful ventures, but don’t borrow the rules! Let me explain:
You are in a new domain – football. A new continent, a new culture. While the owners have been keen to change the culture at Chelsea, they have totally ignored the good things about the existing culture of Chelsea.
Chelsea is the closest to Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in England. It is a club of chaos, a club where managers/coaches are disposed of 18 months to 24 months, and the trophies keep rolling. I am all in for stability – but that stability must come at the “management” level (something I’ve been stressing in this mailbox for a long time).
I don’t give a damn about a manager – quoting the great Bela Guttman, a manager’s shelf life is 3 years. In England, and PL, SAF (and to a reasonable degree Wenger) have made everyone think that a long term coach/manager is the best thing and is the rule. No! Man United just like Chelsea is a special club with its own identity – that club in its entire history has been successful greatly in two spells, both times with a coach for long term. And United is an outlier!
So Todd, if you are reading this – I like your approach towards player recruitment, the recruitment team, plans for the stadium, the muti-club model etc. But for the love of god, while you’re doing the good changes needed for a cultural reset, there’s no need to change what already is a good thing at Chelsea – a team that wins a trophy each season. Keep this in mind when you get the next coach.
Actually, Todd, you can do one better – don’t hire a coach now. Complete the management/board reset, and then make it a point that the coach is a small cog in the bigger management, a disposable cog (yes, I know many of you will backlash at this, but this is the reality). The coach/manager must be someone who fits the overall management objectives (and I hope winning trophies is number 1).
Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are clubs with stable management, but not the same manager – yet they win very often. Chelsea I repeat is closest to those two clubs in England. Keep the management constant – find coaches who will win with the objectives/constraints of the management. If the coach miraculously is a serial winner and is there for the long term – that’s the best you can get, but remember that is an outlier situation and is never the norm.
Aravind, Chelsea fan
CHECK OUT: The shocking Premier League table since Chelsea hired Graham Potter
Potter screwed it v Villa
I desperately, desperately wanted Potter to succeed. As a Chelsea fan I wanted a manager to survive a rough patch because they had shown their quality, and build something.
I was incredibly happy that Chelsea hired him, and was happier to learn that he would be given time. I absolutely think that Boehly hasn’t helped with the insane scattergun transfer dealings. But after the Villa loss something changed.
After that mess I couldn’t really back Potter anymore. Playing one of the best right wing backs at centre back, while playing an incredibly average centre mid as a wing back… I’m sorry but it smacked of running out of ideas to make things work. It really didn’t work and it hasn’t. The only real positive about Chelsea in 2023 is Joäo Felix, and I can’t see why he would want to join a mid table team.
Yes Potter had no striker, and Boehly is a completely incompetent owner, but I think things had reached a nadir, I don’t know how the players could trust him anymore. Chelsea need a clear clear out the summer. Hopefully whoever comes in convinces Mount to stay.
Despite the money spent, these are very worrying times for Chelsea, because right now there are no positives, and the only way is down.
Wil CFC
Dear Chelsea fans…
It’s your owner. And it’ll continue to be.
Robert Goodson
Things we like to see
With apologies to my Brighton-supporting friends, it is imperative that Roberto de Zerbi jumps ship to one of the vacancies currently on offer in the Premier League. I am being non-specific about the number as there could be another sacking between the time I write this and it is published.
I just want to read a F365 preview of the De Zerbi Derbi when he takes his new club back to Sussex. In these difficult times, it is the small pleasures that keep us going.
Mark Meadowcroft
16 one-sentence conclusions
1. Jesus is back and not just for Easter.
2. Potter was never going to last a season.
3. Trippier gets better with age.
4. Rodgers should have stayed in Scotland.
5. Will the next Chelsea Manager do a di Matteo?
6. ETH hit the panic button.
7. The fidget spinner got Burned.
8. Stop the Trossard- Mudryk discussion it’s ridiculous.
9. Grealish needs to bring his Man City game to England.
10. Still worried about Holding v every Man City Player.
11. Potter to Leicester.
12. Is there an angrier face in football than The Fidget Spinner?
13. Nagelsmann, just what Chelsea need another head strong German.
14. Poch surely wouldn’t work for Levy again…..who would !
15. Xhaka is the comeback king.
16. One of the best Premier League seasons ever.
Sarn Smith (17.Arsenal have Newcastle between them and the Premier League title ).
Well wasn’t that fun?
Well, what a rather marvellous weekend of footy.
City put four past a terrible Liverpool, the Toon Army put two past a terrible Man U (United without Casemiro eh? Discuss.) and both Brighton and Brentford reminded Spurs and Chelsea supporters what they’ve been missing. Cracking game.
At the other end, Moyes prolonged the misery of West Ham fans with a win taking them, ridiculously, to 14th place, but still only one point off the drop zone. How mad is that?
Nine teams still in the relegation mix with ten games left.
If anybody can confidently predict who’ll go down, would you mind awfully DM’ing me with the next lottery numbers?
The only thing that would make this weekend complete would be Spurs losing to Everton on Monday night. And who would bet against that?
Mark (Brendan to Tottingham anyone?) MCFC
Klopp has earned the chance to try
Don’t know if Klopp is the manager to rebuild the side, but he’s certainly earned the opportunity to do so (if he wants it).
Aidan, Lfc (I’d be more anti-Klopp if he hadn’t won all those things)
Is the quad dream over yet?
Well done Newcastle. Thoroughly deserved.
As for the Utd lot, hope this is the wake up call they needed after all this quadruple talk got to their heads. Pretty much need to win all our remaining games and hope for some help, if we’re to win the quadruple now. Not over yet…
Niraj, Tampa
Antony and Sancho filling in big shoes with their tiny feet
Did anybody else laugh out loud when they saw Antony coming off for Sancho? I’m sure that put the fear of God in to Newcastle’s defenders, swapping out one lightweight for another.
People love to throw around terms like “the new Mararona” and “the new Pele”. Ladies and gentleman, I present to you 2023s answer to the legendary duo of Robben and Ribery, and these lads get to keep the “Robbery” moniker as well. The only robberies being the brazen ones pulled off by Ajax and Dortmund to swindle 170 million pounds out of United for what amounts to a whopping goal contribution every 245 and 273 minutes for these two lightweights this season in United colors.
Now for any other club, this kind of comically poor transfer business would be a historical lowlight, but this is a club who after all paid 85 million for Harry Maguire, so y’know, perspective an all.
Pizzazu
Wout of order
Man Utd win with Weghorst in the team: Weghorst is an important player because of his hard work and ten Hag knows what he’s doing. Man Utd lose with Weghorst in the team: Weghorst is useless and why does ten Hag play him? The fickleness of football fans. Weghorst should be nowhere near the Man Utd team. On the sub’s bench for Burnley is exactly where he belongs. Anybody with a good understanding of the game (me!) knew that Weghorst should never have been ‘signed’ by ten Hag. Pity that most people – especially on here, the usual clueless suspects – refused to accept this simple fact.
G Thomas, Breda
Rashford still rubbish too
There were praises from all sections of the media for a player faking injury & not turning up for England and turning up 3,000+ miles in the USA. So much so that Southgate was painted as the vilain.
Apparently the player had rested well during the break.
No lucky goal or assist to hide Rashford’s horrendous performance this week. And this is how Rashford plays 95% of the time. All pace & no other quality. Modern day Theo Walcott!
Ashwin (Man Utd fan)
Oh Nev
Remember when Mr. Neville thought Utd would still finish above Arsenal this year….
Simpler times, eh?
James, (cautiously optimistic) Gooner, Leics